Index or file



'Aug.21, 1929. w. .4. DAY ET AL 1,725,754

INDEX OR FILE Filed 00t- 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Aug. 27, 1929. w. H. DAY ET AL 1,725,754

INDEX 0R FILE Filed on. 5, 1921 zsheets-sneot 2 g 60 2s 2s 6 Patented Aug. 27, 1929. UNHTED STATS PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM H. DAY, OF EAST HAVEN, AND CLIFFORD R. THOMAS, OF WEST HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, AS$IGNORS, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO REMINGTON RAND INC. OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

INDEX ORI'ILE.

Application filed October 5, 1921. Serial No. 505,656.

This invention relates to indexes or files, sists in the novel features and combinations and more particularly to that class of the of parts to be hereinafter described and same in which a cabinet is employed to reclaimed. ceive a number of drawers constructed to In the accompanying drawings:

5 carry a plurality of reference members suit- Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a tile ably retained therein. cabinet embodying our improvements;

In devices of this characterit is desirable Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, but that the drawers may be withdrawn from showing one of the drawers in its self-susthe cabinet and thereafter Wlll be capable of taming open position;

10 sustaining themselves in an inclined or ver- Fig. 3 is a top plan View of one of the tical position, so that the hands of the user drawers; may be employed entirely in the manipula- Fig. 4 is a sectional view along 41 of tion of the cards or copying material there- Fig. 3; upon. It is also of advantage to so 0011- Fig. 5 is a sectional view along 55 of 15 struct such a file that the drawers will not Fig. 8;

ordinarily be capable of complete with- Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail view of the drawal from the cabinet, but will be posirear end of one of the drawers and the foltively'held in the position in which the lowing slide;

drawer proper will be automatically sus- Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 6, but 20 tained in vertical or inclined position. It showing the release to the retaining means will sometimes, however, be advantageous to by themanipulation of the drawer; remove the drawer entirely from the cabinet F ig. 8 is a sectional view along 88 of and to this end it is preferable to be able to Fig. 4 showing the locking slide for locking render the retaining means inoperative at the drawers in closed position; and

will. Fig. 9 is a detail view showing the control It is with the above objects and advan- .of the locking slide.

rages in view, among others, that our im- For the purpose of illustration of our inpi'oved file has been devised. vention we have selected to show a cabinet Another olt ject of our invention is to pro- 10 having pockets or chambers 11 to receive 30 vide a file cabinet of this character and a plurality of drawers 12. Suitable partidrawers receivable therein of generally imtions 13 of some thin material are provided proved character and construction and of to extend, horizontally through the cabinet easy and simple operation. to form the pockets 11. The drawers 12 are A still further object of our invention is supported by and slide upon the lower one 35 to provide means for hinging the drawer of the adjacent partitions, as shown in Figs.

to the cabinet upon its partial withdrawal 1 and 5. U v q Ll efroin and means to ordinarily prevent The drawers 12 may be 01 any desired it. form, the one shown for illustration being similar to those described in our copending 40 application, Serial No. 505,655, filed October 5, 1921, patentedJanu-ary1,1927, No. a 1,697,349. These drawers are preferably red. stamped from some thin material as sheet- Qther objects of our invention are to prometal or the like andv are provided with a 45 s de a follower or slide hinged to the body front facing member 14 provided with. openof the drawer proper, so that the slide may ings 15 through which a drawer label. may 0 be retained within the cabinet and the be displayed and with knobs 16 by which drawer l'iingedly suspended therefrom when the drawers may be manipulated. withdrawn; to arrange means cooperating At the rear end of each of the drawers is 50 with the slides of a. plurality of drawers to hinged a follower or slide 17. The hinged loci: them in closed position in the cabinet; connection between the drawer and slide may and to provide a structure of generally imbe of any preferred form, the one shown proved character and operation. merely being for the purpose ofillustration, To'these and other ends the invention conbut is, however, a satisfactory and desirable arrangement. It is noted that toward the rear end of the same the bottom of the drawer is inclined upwardly and a plurality of looped straps 18 are secured thereto by rivets 19. If desired, small depressions 20 may be provided in the bottom of the drawer to provide a substantially horizontal surface for the connection of the straps. The fol lower or slide 17 is preferably formed of sheet metal and is provided at its rear end with transversely extending loops 21 which are spaced to interfit with the loops of the straps 18. A hinge pin or rod 22 may then be inserted in the loops and thus a satisfactory hinged connection between the slide and drawer is provided. 7

The slide 17 consists generally of a body member L-shaped in cross-section having a bottom or horizontally extending plate 23 and a vertically extending rear edge 24. Upon this member the'sides 25 and 26 are provided, the edges of which may be turned over at 27 and 28. The front ends of the sides 25 and 26 are extended at 29 and 30 to overlap the connection between the follower or slide and the drawer proper and the rear edge of the drawer which as heretofore explained is raised to some extent, projects over the bottom 23 of the slide.

At the rear edge of the follower or slide two recesses are cut therein to provide a tongue 31 having a vertically extending edge portion 32. The tongue 31 and edge portion may be regarded as continuations of the bottom 23 and the rear edge 24 of the slide, if desired. Extending vertically through the cabinet substantially intermediate thereof at the rear ends of the drawers is a bar or slide 33 provided with a plurality of openings 34 equal in number to the number of the drawers 12 and spaced oppositely therefrom. This slide is adapted to lie within the recesses cut from the slide 17 the tongues 31 extending through the openings 34 when the drawers are in fully closed position, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. hen the slide is lowered to the position shown in Fig. 4, the drawers will be locked in closed position as the edges 32 will be prevented from passing through the openings 34. lVhen, however, the slide is raised to the position shown in Fig. 9, the openings 34 will be inthe proper aligning position relative to the edges 32 so that the latter will pass freely through these openings and the opening of the drawers will be permitted. At the lower part of the cabinet is rotatably mounted a shaft 35 provided with a cranked end portion 36 received in a slot 37 in the lower end of the slide 33. The shaft projects froinwithout the front of the cabinet and is provided with a suitable look (not shown). It will be apparent that when the rod 35 is rotated, the shaft will, by means of the cranked end 36, shift the slide to the proper positions to lock the drawers closed or to permit them to be opened, as desired.

The slide or follower 17 is provided with a pair of openings 40 through which project detents 41 provided upon a swinging leaf 42 mounted upon the body of the slide. The number of these openings and tongues is, of course, of no importance and may be varied, as desired. The leaf is swingingly or pivotally connected to the body of the slide by being provided with two upwardly extending projections 43 which pass through openings 44 in the slide and are positioned in inwardly extending recesses 45 in the rear face of the edge 24. The leaf 42 may be held in a normal position by means of a spring, a suitable form of which is shown at 46. The

spring, as shown, is a fiat or leaf spring having one end secured to the member 23 by being passed below a stirrup formed in the same and having its other end projecting over a longitudinal corrugation 47 in the leaf 42. It will be apparent that by means of this arrangement the spring normally exerts a pressure tending to urge the leaf 42 toward the member 23 and to cause the detents 41 to project downwardly through the openings 40.

To actuate the leaf 42 and the detents 41 carried thereby, I have provided a rocker 49 pivotally mounted on the plate 23. The rocker is provided with a crossbar 50, which is embraced by a loop 51 formed in a pro jecting edge of one of the openings 40. I At the rear of the crossbar is an opening 52 through which the edge extends to surround the bar. The rocker is provided with a pair of rearwardly extending arms 53 and 54 which project below the rear edge of the leaf 42 to swing the same upwardly when the rocker is moved about its crossbar. The rocker is provided with a forwardly projecting end 55 which extends upwardly from the crossbar and then curves downwardly,

as shown in Fig; 7, and is adapted to be engaged by the rear end of the drawer 11 when the latter is swung upwardly from the horizontal, as shown in Fig. 7. When this engagement takes place, the arms 53 and 54 of the rocker are swung upwardly to engage the leaf 42 and move it with them to withdraw the detents 41 from the openings 40 until they no longer project below the bottom 23 of the slide 17.

The detents 41, when the drawer is withdrawn from the cabinet in a normal horizontal position, are adapted to engage a part of the cabinet, such as the turned over ends 56 of the lower partitions 13 to retain the slide within the chamber pocket and thereby sustain the drawer in a freely suspended po sition about the hinge pin 22, as shown in Fig. 6. i

It will be obvious that the different parts of the slide or follower 17 are an ranged to be assembled by the engagement of one with another and without the use of securing means, such as rivets or the like. Such an arrangement enables the structure to be produced economically as the parts may be stamped from sheet metal or the like and then assembled with a minimum of effort and labor.

The drawers 11 are provided with a con trally disposed guide strip having flanged edges 61 adapted to receive the tongue 62 of reference members or cards 63. It will, of course, be obvious that my improvements may be useful with other kinds of reference members and with other supporting means than the ones shown which are merely illustrative of the broad ideas underlying our improvements.

The operation of our device is as follows: When all of the drawers, or any of them, areclosed, as shown in Fig. 1 and the slide is in its lower position, as shown in Figs. l and 8, the drawers will be locked against opening. However, by turning the lockcontrolled rod 35 connected therewith, the cranked end 36 of this shaft will by its engagement with the slide 33, raise the latter to the position shown in Fig. 9 where the tongues 32 will be released and the drawers permitted to open. A pull upon the knob 16 will now cause the drawer to slide outwardly in a horizontal position. and when it has been moved far enough for the drawer proper to clear the cabinet, the drawer may F be dropped downwardly and will be freely suspended by the pin 22. The, reference members are now supported in. a convenient exposed position where they are accessible to the user of the file and, if desired, suitable means may be provided to support them in any suitable inclined position. When it is desired to remove the drawer entirely from the cabinet, together with the follower or slide 17, the drawer may be moved upwardly beyond a horizontal position, as shown in Fig. 7, and the rear edge thereof will engage the rear end of the rocker, thus moving upwardly the leaf 42 and disengaging the detents ll from the stop 56. The drawer may now be entirely removed from the cabinet and may, of course, be inserted again when such a course is necessary. It may sometimes be inexpedient to raise the drawer to the position shown in Fig. 7 and in this case, it may be removed. entirely from the cabinet by pressure of the users thumb on the member when the drawer is in the position shown in F 6. Thus the detent may be withdrawn by the operation of the member 55, either through the manipulation of the drawer or directly by the operators lingers.

A. stop is provided to limit the movement of the leaf a2 and the rocker 49, in the form of a wing 38 carried by the rocker, in the form shown, and projecting over the edge of the leaf. When the rocker is moved and the leaf raised, the edge thereof binds between the wing 38 and the arm 44 and prevents excessive movement thereof.

It will be obvious that while wehave described and shown our invention as applied to a cabinet drawer, it may be applicable to record carrying slides or leaves as well and is not necessarily limited to what may be termed a drawer. It will, however, be obvious that the detent and the operating rockor may be mounted upon the rear end of the drawer itself and not upon a separate follower or slide, if it is desired to do away with the swinging or hinged feature of the structure. For these reasons we do not wish to limit ourselves to a drawer or to a drawer having a follower or slide connected there with.

While we have shown and described a preferred embodiment of our invention, it is to be understood that it is not limited to all of the details shown, but is capable of many modifications and variations which lie within the spirit of the invention and within the scope of the appended claims.

What we claim is:

1. In an index or file, a cabinet, a shallow drawer adapted to be slidably received within the cabinet, a detent movably associated with the drawer and adapted to project be low the bottom thereof to engage with the cabinet to prevent the complete removal of the drawer therefrom, and a rocker movably associated with the drawer and directly ongaging said detent whereby the manipula tion of said rocker will move said detent to disengaging position and permit the complete removal of the drawer from the cabinet.

2. Inan index or tile, a cabinet, a drawer adapted to be slidably received therein and having a rearwardly disposed slide hinged thereto, a detent pivotally mounted on the I slide and adapted to project from the bottom thereof to engage the cabinet below the drawer to prevent the complete removal of the latter from the cabinet, and means movably mounted on the slide and adapted to engage the detent to move the latter to inoperative position.

3. In a device of the character described, a cabinet, a shallow drawer adapted to be received therein. and having a rearwardly disposed slide hinged thereto, a detent swingingly mounted upon the slide and adapted to project from the bottom thereof to engage the cabinet below the drawer to prevent the complete removal of the latter from the cabinet, and an element pivoted on the slide and. engaging with said detent to move the latter to inoperative position and permit the complete removal of the drawer.

4. In a device of the character described,

a cabinet, a shallow drawer adapted to be re.

the cabinet, and a rocker mounted on the slide and engaging with said detent to move the latter to inoperative position and permit the complete removal of the drawer.

5. In an index or file, a cabinet, a drawer adapted to be slidably received therein and having a rearwardly disposed slide hinged thereto, a detent pivotally mounted on the slide and adapted to project from the bot tom thereof to engage the cabinet below the drawer to prevent the complete removal of the latter from the cabinet, and means movably mounted on the slide and adapted to engage the detent to move the latter to inoperative position, and resilient means to normally retain said detent in operative position.

6. In a device of the character described, a cabinet, a drawer adapted to be received therein and withdrawn therefrom and havin a rearwardly disposed slide hinged thereto, a detent pivoted upon the slide and adapted to engage the cabinet to prevent the complete withdrawal of the slide therefrom, and means actuated by the manipulation of the drawer to move said detent, relatively to the slide and to inoperative position.

7 In a device of the character described, a cabinet, a drawer adapted to be received therein and withdrawn therefrom and having a rearwardly disposed slide hinged thereto, a detent movably mounted upon the slide and adapted to engage the cabinet to prevent the complete withdrawal of the slide therefrom, and an element engaging said detent to move it to inoperative position, said element being engageable by the drawer so as to be actuated bythe manipulation of the drawer.

8. In a device of the character described, a cabinet, a drawer adapted to be received therein and having a rearwardly disposed slide hinged thereto, a detent swingingly mounted upon the slide to normally prevent the withdrawal thereof from the cabinet, and a pivoted member upon said slide, said member having a part engageable by the drawer to move said detent to inoperative position. 7

9. In a device of the character described, a cabinet, a drawer adapted to be received therein and having a rearwardly disposed slide hinged thereto, a detent swingingly mounted upon the slide to normally prevent the withdrawal thereof from the cabinet, and a lever pivoted upon the slide having one end engaging said detent, and its opposite end in position to be engaged by the drawer to move said detent to inoperative position.

10. In a device of the character described, a cabinet, a drawer adapted to be received therein and having a rearwardly disposed slide hinged thereto at the rear end thereof, the rear end of said drawer extending over the adjacent edge of the slide, a detent movably mounted on said slide to prevent the withdrawal thereof from the cabinet, and a member having a portion engageable with said detent and a portion extending under the end of said drawer to be operated by the drawer to move the detent to inoperative position. I

11. In a device of the character described, a cabinet, a drawer adapted to be received therein and having a rearwardly disposed slide hinged at the rear end thereof, a detent movably associated with the slide and adapted to engage the cabinet to retain the slide therein so that the drawer when in withdrawn position may be swung to its hinged connection with the slide, and a rocker mounted on the? slide and adapted to engage the detent to move it to inoperative position, said rocker being exposed for manual actuation when the drawer is withdrawn to swinging position.

12. In a card index cabinet having a tray compartment, a tray slidable in said compartment, an anchor movable with said tray, movable locking means on said anchor, said locking means being normally movable into operative position, and means for moving said locking means to inoperative position through a predetermined movement of said tray relative to the anchor after being projeeted.

13. The combination with a card index cabinet, of a tray horizontally slidable in said cabinet, an anchor movable with said tray for supporting said tray when withdrawn from said cabinet, normally operative locking means on said anchor movable relative to said anchor, adapted for automatic locking engagement with a part of said cabinet, and means on said tray for moving said locking means to inoperative position when said tray is removed.

14. In an index cabinet having tray sup porting means, a tray slidable on said means, an anchor hinged to the rear of said tray, a normally operative locking member carried by said anchor, and means having a portion normally engaged by said tray for operating said locking member into inoperative position.

In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hands on the 17th day of September,

' WVILLIAM H. DAY.

CLIFFORD R. THOMAS.

CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION.

Fatent No. 1,725,754. Granted August 27, 1929, to

WILLIAM H. DAY ET AL.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 1, line 95, for the date "1927" read "1929"; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 8th day .of October, A. D. 1929.

M. J. Moore,

(Seal) Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

